ATHENS — If you walk by and peer through one of the few openings, you can see it: The turf has been put down at Georgia’s indoor facility.
It’s the latest sign that the long-awaited project, which ground broke on nearly a year ago, is close to being finished. Red letters spelling out “Georgia” are clearly visible in the end zone, at the end of a green turf that went down about a week ago.
The goal is still for the facility to be ready at the start of the calendar year, for the football team’s full use in spring practice, as well as offseason workouts. But could it even be sooner, for the team’s bowl practices?
“It’s too early to tell,” athletics director Greg McGarity said. “But it’s moving along in a torrid pace, and it’s on schedule, and we’re very excited about the progress thus far.”
Georgia is expected to begin bowl practices around Dec. 14, which is the day after finals end, and those practices should go about a week before breaking for the holiday. (The team will report to its bowl site for its final practices.)
If it’s at all possible to practice indoors rather than bus out to the temporary practice fields, the Bulldogs would surely take the opportunity. But it’s also not as easy as just hopping into the facility and holding a practice. The turf may be down, but construction continues on a number of the finishing touches.
The fact it’s even a possibility, though, is a testament to how well construction has gone. The drought has helped, meaning very few work stoppages. Even when it rained on Tuesday morning, the crew was back out there that afternoon, hard hats on, working hard.
Here are a couple more pictures (though a picture of the turf was too hard to get. Just trust me on it).
